Wow. Just came across five songs that seem to all represent the same theme: female empowerment. They didn’t all debut at the same time, yet the message they send is equally strong and relevant for today.

From first glance, you might think these songs are “feminist songs”. But that’s not entirely true of all of them.

Lesson #1: There are three ways women represent female empowerment : 1) Through Feminism 2) Through Chauvinism 3) Through Misandry

What’s the difference?

Definition of Feminism: the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men

With Feminism, it brings out the idea that women are EQUAL to men, are capable of the same opportunities, whether they try and succeed, or try and fail. It is the idea that women have the same feelings, wants, desires, and need for freedom that men have. It is the idea that women can take care of themselves much the same way a man could.

It is NOT the idea that women don’t NEED men at all, that women are BETTER than men, and that women are exclusively different from men in the fact that they’re prettier, stronger, and have their own interests, desires, and feelings. It is not the idea that women have better thought patterns and views of the world. These ideas are more closely associated with female chauvinism.

Definition of Chauvinism: the denigration, disparagement, and patronization of either sex based on the belief that one sex is inferior to the other and thus deserving of less than equal treatment or benefit

And outright hate for men for any other reasons, a deep prejudice, is more likened to Misandry.

Angry feminists, exasperated with the lack of equality, can often turn into female chauvinists in their life-time. Women suffering from break-ups, rape, or other socially harmful relationships often become misandrists. They end up HATING men. Many end up feeling women are superior in what they can do, or rather many result to over-emphasizing their importance in a hetero relationship out of frustration because it may seem like the men in their lives don’t “respect” them as equals.

But what we must understand is that female chauvinists, misandrists, and feminists are not the same thing. In fact, there are differences. Feminism benefits MEN. It encourages men to stay home for a change, cook, clean, sew, wear nice clothing, enjoy ponies, and anything else, even if it’s not stereo-typically “male”. Chauvinism, sets out to make the “lesser” gender look bad, weaker, evil, or just useless. It builds up one gender above another, and encourages the “lesser” gender to be more like “it”. Misandry is just outright hate towards men, and it’s very clear. It is usually evident which message is which by the opposite gender’s responses…

Most men respond to feminist material as “this is cool and dope”, much like the responses towards Mulan and Hunger Games. Men usually end up respecting the women to some degree rather than feeling resentful. However, the response towards chauvinist and misandrist material is usually “I hate women, femi-nazis”…etc.

Misandry just produces an outright war, a complete battle of the sexes, and makes the genders bitter foes.

Which brings me to my views on these five songs by Destiny’s Child, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Little Mix, and Fifth Harmony. All five songs represent female empowerment. But tell me, which ones represent feminism and which ones represent chauvinism and misandry?

Destiny’s Child-Independent Women

This song is how many years old? 14 years old! And yet, the message is still strong and clear. Destiny’s Child has always been known for their strong “female empowering” messages. In fact, they created a trend of it, and it just followed Beyonce into the next chapter of her career.

This song focuses on a woman buying everything for herself and working hard for what she gets. It encourages women to contribute 50/50 in a relationship. It even warns women about the sacrifices you have to make in order to be independent by stating that independence is not easy, but emphasizes how women still should strive to rely on themselves, even if the road is difficult. And even though the beginning of the song creates the picture that women don’t need men, it focuses on creating a relationship that is fair and equal, working hard for what you want, and even treating your man to a “watch” every once in a while for a change, though they are reminding the man to appreciate it. I say this song is for Feminists.

Beyonce-Who Run the World (Girls)

Beyonce continues the Destiny’s Child tradition of female “empowerment” in this next song “Who Run the World (Girls)”. Only this time, the language is stronger, the beat is more intense, and the feeling is even more powerful than any she ever created with Destiny’s Child. You can’t ignore the point with this song. It is very controversial in it’s direction.

From the introduction, “We run this Motha”, to the bridge line, “You’ll do anything for me”, it is apparent that this song is showing the world just how powerful women are. This song emphasizes how women can use their power to easily strip a man of his. The “persuasion” a woman has (that apparently, a man doesn’t have) can melt a man’s hate for a woman, even if women come “at his neck”. This song presents the idea that, in fact, men can only admire the strength of women as they bare the children (something a man is incapable of doing), and STILL get back to doing “business”, just like men. Basically, women can have children AND work, while men can only handle ONE of the two.

Gentlemen, doesn’t this song make you a bit uneasy as you listen to it? It’s almost as if someone is trying to threaten you, take something from you, and make you feel weak or powerless. You know what that uneasy, insecure feeling is? Intimidation. This song feels like it is for Chauvinists.

Christina Aguilera-I Hate Boys

Christina Aguilera carefully saved this song for her album Bionic, and quietly slipped it in the music industry without a music video. With a catchy chorus hook, anyone would ignore the hidden message…unless of course, you got wind of Youtube and lyric videos. Well, you can’t ignore the “I hate boys” part. Her other song, “Vanity”, off of the same album, carries the same tone…

The song carries some strong controversial words: “I hate boys, but boys love me” alone states that Christina hates boys, but they just can’t seem to get enough of her. She says she’s just a “tad” bitter towards men in this song. She states that men are only good for “fruit” and not “bananas”. The chorus repeatedly says she thinks boys “suck” and that her “friends agree”. She expresses how happy women would be if men weren’t around, and how boys are so immature, they rarely turn into men, but then again, they are “dogs”. “Inflated Egos”, “Little Dicks”, “Spit-em-Out”, the insults hardly end. She even states that we should “pack them up and ship them out”. WOW. The tones give a slap to the male face. I wonder how many men think she’s so hot now…Probably plenty of men do.

This song feels like it’s for Misandrists.

Little Mix-Salute

Little Mix’s “Salute” has a sick drop and pumping beat with a message that encourages women to stand together in numbers. This song is a chant that can get any woman’s day started.

While the song flows nicely, simply encouraging women to do their best, not really mentioning men at all, aside from the one chauvinist line “we don’t need no man”, which can be taken in any way, this song repetitively encourages women to be like strong, fearsome warriors. It states that women are more than pretty faces, which women are. The song could’ve been categorized in the feminist category if…

…the video wasn’t so derogatory. Having men on leashes? Snapping their harnesses like whips? Let’s reverse roles and put women in those leashes. Oh, what an outcry it would bring! The video is in the chauvinistic category. While the song itself is neutral, the video can and does distort the message. We, the viewers, are left unclear.

This song carries both messages.

Fifth Harmony-Bo$$

Fifth Harmony’s name-dropping song is one of the popular songs of the summer. Their hit adds to the “female empowerment” trend that’s taking over music and movies, one mission at a time.

Fifth Harmony swings between feminist and chauvinist. The song exposes the fact that most people confuse feminism with chauvinism, and it shows how that confusion influences what women expect from the world. The song encourages women to be strong and hard-working, like “Michelle Obama” and “Oprah”, to get paid, and to be confident, which all support feminism. However, the song contradicts it’s air when they ask to be treated like a “lady”, which is not getting the same equal treatment as men (because men can vary in the way they treat each other, and as Susan B. Anthony said to the “bulls” breaking up her organized movement, “Beat me and throw me in jail like you would a man!’), when it says they “run this house”, and when they say they “ain’t thirsty for no bae”, which is different for men. Most men feel like they need girlfriends, and often sing songs about trying to get the girl of their dreams. In fact, name one man who doesn’t have a woman in his video. Lightly, it creates an exclusive difference between men and women, creating a light image that women are slightly better than men in the way they think, which serves to their advantage. When they state that they “run the house”, they paint the picture that the home is not run by two equal partners, but one dominating the other, the dominating partner being the woman.

I’m sorry, it makes it difficult to know what girls want when they demand to get treated like a traditional “lady”, but also expect to be treated equally by men. Do you observe how men treat each other? Can we really have the best of both worlds?

So, tell me what you think. Which song carries the strongest message? A message you won’t ever forget? Can you tell the difference?

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